Chapter 8

Within a few weeks fall began and with it, preparations for Halloween.

The conversations turned to what sort of costume the kids would be wearing for trick or treating and what neighborhood they would visit for the best candy.

All of this was new to Freya and when she was asked if she was going to be a Viking for Halloween, she asked, "Whit is a Viking?"

Lorna, who had asked the question exclaimed,"You've never heard of Vikings? You look just like one with your skin and hair color and your long braids and your freaking size!"

She showed her some pictures of Vikings and Freya said, "We ken them as 'Scandis', th' Scandis hunted us an' forced us tae flee fer our lives tae haur."

Lorna looked a bit surprised and she commented, "So, I take it you don't think much of the Norse gods like Odin and Thor and all of them?"

Freya scoffed and remarked, "Tae us, Odin an' 'is sons were murderers an' rapists, thieves an' brigands. They kilt us wi' sharp spears an' bright swords an' took uir lands an' homes. Th' more we retreated, th' more they took. Finally, we sent out boats tae find a new land, one without th' Scandis. Further an' further west we looked, 'til we came tae a land wi' small red men who welcomed us, as we were so few in number."

Freya fell silent after her reply as if lost in thought.

Lorna said softly, "Wow, I didn't know...Sorry to hear that."

"'s'okay, ye didnae ken, ye meant nae harm."

"You seem to know a lot about your people's history, is this something all Jotuns know?" queried a curious Lorna.

"Nae, me grandma is th' keeper ay the scrolls ay uir folk. Ah learnt it frae 'er." replied Freya with a grin.

Freya ended up wearing a homemade costume adapted from an animated movie about a frozen land and its icy princess.

Freya, with her long red-gold braids and her peaches and cream complexion, raked in the goodies from the houses she went to with Lorna.

She also experienced her first tummy ache from eating too much candy.

By now, Freya's novelty had worn off and she was now just another kid at Chapman Elementary School. Albeit, a very tall kid.

While she had not tried to draw attention to herself, her size and strength did stand out.

An athletic ten year old girl standing over six feet tall was bound to get noticed and one day, Roger came out of their house to find a stranger standing there looking at the address.

"Can I help you, Mr...?" he asked.

"Phillips, Walter Phillips, I'm a scout looking for prospective players for the University of Portland's Women's Volleyball team, the Portland Pilots."

He handed Roger a business card and after he perused it for a few moments, Roger smiled at Walter and said, "The girl you're interested in is only ten years old and right now, she is enrolled in elementary school. Don't you think this is just a little premature?"

Walter looked a bit confused and asked, "You mean she's not a high schooler? But, she's so tall!"

Roger could only shrug as he replied, "Yeah, we get that a lot."

At that point, Freya herself came out of the house with her friend Lorna Yamada.

Tucked under one arm was a basketball, a well used basketball.

She came over to Roger and announced, "We're headin' doon tae shoot a few hoops afore dinner!"

Roger grinned and said, "Okay, have fun!" Then he paused and said, "This is Walter Phillips, he works for the University of Portland. He came out here to meet you, only to find out you're still too young for college."

Freya smiled at Walter and said, "Hello! Ah'm pleased tae meet yer!" and shook his hand. Roger grinned and said to her, "You two go play, I'm going to talk with Mr. Phillips here for a bit."

Moments later, as she and Lorna jogged down the winding street to the park's basketball courts.

Walter said, softly, "She's really only ten? She's gotta be..."

"Six foot four, as of yesterday." answered Roger.

"Yeah, that!" replied Walter.

He looked at Roger and asked, "How tall is she likely to get? I don't mean to pry, but her growth rate is off the charts!"

Roger grinned at him and replied, "Actually, her growth rate is within the normal range. She will get quite a bit taller though and I hate to break it to you, but she's likely to end up being way too tall for women's volleyball."

Walter looked at him curiously and remarked, "So, how tall are we talking about? Professionally speaking of course!"

"Close to, or slightly taller than nine feet." replied Roger with a grin.

Walter looked at him with a deadpan expression and replied, "No way! The tallest man that ever lived was just under nine feet tall and he was virtually a cripple who needed leg braces just to stand up!"*

"Freya comes from very tall people." replied Roger, "Her height is not unusual among her kind, in fact she's about the average, although she is considered a bit too thin."

"Too thin? She looked pretty healthy to me! Though a bit flat chested, then again, she's only ten." remarked Walter.

Roger shrugged and said, "I was told she is considered to be a bit too thin. Apparently, her people like their women robust!"

Walter shrugged and remarked, "All I know is that I was told about this tall girl who was quite the ball player and I was given this address. You're telling me she's going to be too tall for the team when she gets to college age and I'm thinking you're pulling my leg. And just what, IS her kind?"

Roger grinned and replied, "I thought you'd never ask!" And he briefly related the story of how he met her and her people hidden up in Canada.

When he was finished, he grinned at Walter's look of astonishment and said, "So, whaddaya think?"

Walter grinned back and replied, "I think I'm gonna keep an eye on your big girl, this ought to be interesting!" he paused a moment and asked, "Do you suppose she'd like to see the campus and meet some of the players at least?"

"I'll mention it to her and let you know what she says. My long range plan is to get her into college and your school is certainly conveniently located!"

The two men grinned at each other and shook hands before Walter Phillips climbed into his big Chevy Tahoe and drove off.

Two weeks later, Roger and Freya went to visit the University of Portland campus where they met up with Walter Phillips and were given a brief tour of the university campus.

Here, Freya did not stand out so much, as the students were all adults and many of them were as tall as she was and so, she attracted little attention.

The highlight of the tour was the gymnasium and the ball courts inside.

The senior women's volleyball team was training that day and Freya was impressed by the towering women all vigorously doing team drills and practicing their defense methods.

During a brief break, Freya was introduced to the team captain, a towering blond named Ingrid Hansen.

When the two shook hands, Ingrid remarked, "How old did you say you were again? You're almost as tall as me and I'm twenty-one!"

Freya smiled at the slightly taller Ingrid and replied, "Ah'm ten summers auld."

Ingrid grinned and said, "Damn, you're gonna be a giant!"

Freya simply smiled and replied, "Ah am a Jotun, we're all giants tae th' wee folk."

Ingrid squinted at her and asked, "Did you say Jotun? Like in 'frost giant' Jotun?"

"Aye, 'at Ah did."

Ingrid laughed and said aloud to her team mates, "Hey everybody! This girl says she's a frost giant!"

The other girls chuckled among themselves while Freya looked puzzled and asked, "'tis somethin' funny?"

Ingrid grinned at her and said, "Honey, I hate to break it to ya, but there are no frost giants, that's old country stories from Scandinavia. Legends kinda like the Norse god stories, they're fun to read and all if your Swedish like me, but they're not to be taken seriously."

Freya replied earnestly, "Me folk see it differently, th' Scandis cam frae th' sooth wi' sharp spears an' bright swords. Odin an' 'is sons slew us an' druv us frae uir lains an' homes. We cam tae this noo lain tae get away frae th' killin', we oanly wanted tae bide in peace."

Ingrid stepped back slightly in surprise at Freya's intensity and she said, "Woah girl, calm down, we're talkin' ancient history here, no reason to get all serious."

Freya relaxed a bit and said quietly, "We've remained hidden fer centuries, me parents asked Roger haur tae tak me wi' heem tae see this warld an' tell th' people about us an' hoo we still live. Ah'm still just a wee lass wi' growin' tae dae yet."

Ingrid looked at Roger and asked, "She's for real ain't she? How tall will she get?"

Roger grinned and replied, "Yes, she is for 'real' and if her parents are any indicator, she'll reach possibly nine feet tall at maturity."

He grinned at the look on Ingrid's pretty face and said, "Trust me, I've been to her home village up in Canada where I felt like a little kid amongst them."

Ingrid grinned at Freya and said, "Okay, I'll take you at your word then. Now, onto the important stuff...How's your game?"

"Me game?"

"Yeah, your game...How well do you play?"

Freya shrugged and replied, "Well enough, Ah s'pose. Ah play wi' the high skalers at th' park near me hoose."

Ingrid grinned and said, "We play pretty seriously here, none of this shootin' a few hoops with the boys stuff, here it's for real."

She glanced at the basketball hoop and said, "Basketball isn't really my game, but volleyball is. So, how about you and I, one on one for fifteen minutes? Basketball."

Freya grinned and nodded a 'yes'.

Ingrid looked over at Walter and he grinned before saying, "This could be interesting...Okay ladies, get them a ball and let them play."

Freya took off her plaid shirt and limbered up a bit before stepping onto the court.

For the next fifteen minutes, the only sounds heard were the squeaking of sports shoes on a smooth floor, the hollow thumping sounds of a bouncing ball and the thump-swish of a ball falling through the net after impacting a backboard and the occasional collision of tall, athletic bodies in motion.

There was a brief interruption when Freya got knocked on her butt while blocking Ingrid's layup shot.

This was soon followed by another interruption when Ingrid suffered the same fate while attempting to block a jump shot by Freya.

All too soon, a whistle sounded and the two stopped playing.

They grinned at each other while catching their breaths, finally Ingrid said between breaths,"How long did you say you've been playing?"

Freya grinned and replied, "Jist a few months, we hae nae ball coorts whaur Ah live. Ah learnt th' game here."

Ingrid laughed and said, "A little bit more experience and some good coaching, you'll be a helluva ball player!"

She grinned at Freya and said cheerfully, "Feel free to join us when we're working out. I'll send you our training schedule so you can join us!"

When the ladies hit the showers, Freya went with them to wash up while Roger talked to Walter.

Roger asked, "Is it going to be okay if she does join in? She is a child after all."

Walter laughed and replied, "Freya knocked Ingrid on her ass, Ingrid is one of our strongest players. Trust me, she'll be fine, she plays hard and can take a hit. Her natural strength is impressive and with some strength training she'll be unstoppable on the court."

Roger grinned at him and replied, "I think it will be good for her to get a bit of a challenge, she's so much bigger than the other kids her age, it's ridiculous!"

Walter grinned and replied, "Our girls will tire her out and give her a challenge, that, I can guarantee."

All the way home Freya chattered happily about how much she enjoyed meeting women her own size who could play ball.

Roger grinned at her and remarked, "They won't always be your size, y'know."

Freya shrugged and said, "'t's okay, Ah know Ah'll get much bigger, but Ah'll still loch them!"

*Author's note: Robert Wadlow was the tallest man who ever lived, when he died at the age of 22, he was 8 feet 11 inches tall and was still growing. wiki/Robert_Wadlow